Everything is Better with Bacon

What is it about bacon that makes it such a culinary phenomenon? Bacon is one of those legendary foods that is capable of crossing economic boundaries; it’s perhaps the most egalitarian of the pork-based meats, because money can’t influence bacon’s natural taste. Both the poor and the rich love a good slab of bacon (for now), and all you need is a hot pan and a couple slices. Everything great about bacon the bacon provides on its own, which is a fatty, greasy, savory wallop of flavor (in all the best sense of those sometimes misleading words). For instance, the freshest of Beluga caviar may be the most heavenly taste on earth, but I won’t ever be able to corroborate that because the cost of one spoonful would buy a week’s worth of dinners in my modest lifestyle. Unlike the caviar, I can have bacon everyday of the week if I so choose.

At some point, despite being an ancient food like any other domesticated animal bred for its eventual slaughtering and its subsequent meat, bacon became a pop cultural icon and upstanding metaphor for all things stellar and awesome. Bacon, for many, is a food of the gods, and we, in our joys and miseries, are able to partake in this food by some unseen benevolence. Don’t question it, just enjoy it. Exactly when bacon took on this role as god-like representation is a bit muddled, but it’s recent to be sure. Anecdotally, I’ve noticed many bacon based products becoming more prominent on store shelves and these odd, commercial experiments are made even more prominent in brick-and-mortar stores by being set on the aisle end-caps—the prime real estate of any consumer environment. These products include (but not limited to): bacon band-aids, bacon flavored chewing gum, bacon flavored soda pop, bacon flavored popcorn, bacon flavored toothpicks, bacon dental floss, bacon waist belts, bacon air fresheners, bacon soap, bacon chocolate bars, bacon plush toys, bacon mayonnaise (cleverly called ‘Baconnaise’), bacon wrapping paper, and, of course, the true litmus test of popularity in contemporary culture, bacon t-shirts.

These t-shirts are a great look for bacon lovers because they help you express your love for the cured meat, but also let everyone else know that they are not alone in their passion for bacon. Whether you know it or not, bacon shame is a real thing and many carry the guilt around with them day to day. These bacon t-shirts are not only stylish, but they can potentially help a community become more honest about its relationship with bacon and its derivatives.

Bacon has reached such a point in its cultural penetration that it is also part of our so-called mashup culture. For those unfamiliar, mashup culture is the pervasive process of taking two different independent properties or interests and ‘mashing’ them together into something new, but dependent on its individual parts as references. In this instance, Star Wars has collided with the popularity of bacon. Using bacon as bait to the dark side is hilarious, but makes one wonder where bacon comes from in the Star Wars galaxy. Gamorreans? Like most meat, it’s better not to think about its origin.

The next tee doesn’t associate bacon with the darkside, but I find it interesting that this particular t-shirt could either be pro bacon or anti-bacon—it would rely on the eye of the beholder of said t-shirt. For the pro example, the bacon is included along with an egg yolk skull creating a delicious breakfast that would appeal to rock stars, Goths, and pirates who like skull and crossbones iconography. In the anti-bacon example, perhaps the skull and crossbones could be interpreted as signifying the purported unhealthy cholesterol levels of eggs and the high fat content in bacon. From a Vegan’s point of view this t-shirt might align with their worldview that bacon and eggs are dangerous; luckily this dangerous, life-on-the-edge lifestyle that eggs and bacon are now supposedly a part helps make it even more awesome in a youthful demographics’ mind.

If you enjoy a good slice of pork belly, perhaps the easiest way to express that love is with a fun bacon t-shirt. We here at t-shirts.com have plenty of bacon lovers (it is not uncommon for streaky bacon vs. back bacon discussions to spontaneously arise from the cubicles) working around the clock coming up with new bacon inspired designs for our insatiable customers.